Konoha Year 48, autumn.
The Third Great Ninja War—sparked by unrest in Sunagakure of the Land of Wind and dragging nearly every nation of the shinobi world into its flames—was finally crawling toward its end.
On the front lines, the weakest of the Five Great Villages, Sunagakure—already crippled by the loss of its leader, the Third Kazekage—was the first to fall out of the race for victory.
Even though the newly installed Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, had stepped forward and led Suna to defend their homeland against Kumogakure, what remained for him was nothing but a mess: the village's elite forces had once again been cut down by nearly half.
Iwagakure of the Land of Earth, meanwhile, had seized an early advantage in the war by using sheer numbers to successfully encircle and kill Kumogakure's Third Raikage, forcing the Cloud to retreat. But when the Stone turned its blades toward Konohagakure of the Land of Fire afterward, it ran into one obstacle after another—the disastrous defeat at Kannabi Bridge shattering any remaining appetite to expand the war.
Though Iwa still maintained its standoff with Konoha, anyone with eyes could see the truth: peace talks were all but inevitable.
And as the war's original instigator, Kumogakure's performance was… less than impressive.
They had lost their strongest, the Third Raikage, against Iwa.
And against Konoha, the newly appointed Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails jinchūriki, Killer B—the famed "A-B combo"—had failed to wring out the profits they wanted from the Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze.
So the Cloud shinobi who had come roaring in could only pull back to the Land of Lightning, licking their wounds in silence… and waiting for the world to shift again.
As for Konoha, though they had been besieged on all fronts and suffered grievously, the crucible of war had forged a new generation of astonishing talent.
Figures like the Golden Flash Minato Namikaze, the Uchiha clan's new head Fugaku, and the Copy Ninja Kakashi of the Sharingan rose as shining representatives. The young shinobi were beginning to take the mantle from their predecessors—the responsibility of holding up Konoha's title as the strongest in the shinobi world.
It was easy to imagine: once the war truly ended, so long as nothing went wrong, Konoha would enter a brand-new era of growth.
So then…
While the Great Ninja War burned like wildfire, what was Kirigakure of the Land of Water—also one of the Five Great Villages—doing?
Watching from the sidelines.
Waiting for the moment when the clam and the snipe tore each other apart… so the fisherman could take everything.
And now, with Konoha exhausted—already able to glimpse victory, yet still forced to bleed manpower and resources maintaining vigilance against both Iwa and Kumo—its national defenses stretched thin, gaping holes opening everywhere…
The Mist shinobi finally decided it was time to step onto the stage and harvest the fruits of victory.
…
"Ren. New mission."
In the Kaguya clan's territory, a masked girl stood on the eaves, delivering the Third Mizukage's will to the boy sprawled atop the roof, quietly admiring the moon. The boy had black hair, sharp brows, and an uncommonly heroic cast to his features.
Hearing her words, Ren let out a weary sigh.
"You had to come tell me something this depressing on the day I'm celebrating my fifteenth birthday, Terumi Mei?"
"It wasn't my decision," the red-brown-haired girl replied coolly. "If the Third has decided to launch an offensive against Konoha, then as one of the executors he personally selected, I'm obligated to report it to you immediately."
Ren had worked with her in the ANBU long enough to know better than to be fooled by that act. He rose in one smooth motion, rolling his shoulders, and extended a hand toward Mei—another kekkei genkai user like him.
"Fine, fine. I'll pretend you're really just here to deliver mission intel, you heartless wicked woman… Scroll. Then you can go report back."
"Here."
Mei pulled a scroll sealed with fūinjutsu from her waist and placed it in his palm.
The instant it changed hands, Ren's gaze flickered. He reached for Mei's pale, slender wrist—
—but Mei was already prepared. Dust scattered beneath her feet, and in the blink of an eye she had used Body Flicker to appear dozens of meters away.
"I'm not some idiot who'll fall for the same trick again and again," Mei declared, chest lifted in smug triumph as she faced Ren—who stood where he was, hand closing on empty air, wearing a momentary look of surprise.
"Oh? Is that so…"
Ren's voice was calm.
"…Poke."
"Eek—!!"
Mei yelped, clutching her narrow waist as a shadow that had followed her Body Flicker silently appeared behind her… then dispersed into smoke.
Still standing where he'd begun, Ren let his earlier expression vanish and smiled at her with amused eyes.
"If you want to beat me in taijutsu, wait until after you get married and then dream on, Mei."
Mei froze, momentarily unable to parse what he meant.
Then it clicked.
Girls matured faster than boys—but when they did, their fury tended to burn hotter, too. Mei's face flushed so hard it looked like her hair might ignite.
If they weren't standing inside Kaguya clan territory, she would've spat a mouthful of acid just to wash that disgusting guy inside and out.
"Kaguya Ren! Every time I think I should treat you a little nicer, you open your mouth! No birthday wishes today! And none ever again! Hmph!"
She vanished into the night with a series of swift roof-leaps.
Ren watched her go. Then he opened the scroll.
His smile faded.
His sharp brows drew together, and between his eyes there was the smallest hint of it—an "as expected," and something else…
Relief.
"Tch. So it really came."
The mission requirements weren't complicated.
Two days from now, Ren was to lead his直属 ANBU squad to infiltrate the Land of Fire, coordinate with Mist shinobi already inside, ambush a Konoha squad whose position had been exposed… and capture one specific target.
The enemy unit had a solid lineup, led by a Konoha jōnin who could be called elite. But with two Mist jōnin squads, three ANBU squads, and Ren himself—a bloodline monster infamous even among bloodline monsters—this shouldn't have been difficult.
The real problem wasn't the mission.
It was the names.
The jōnin leading the Konoha squad was Hatake Kakashi.
The target the Third Mizukage demanded Ren capture was Nohara Rin.
And on one of the jōnin squads already infiltrated into the Land of Fire, they carried a vessel containing the seal of Isobu, the Three-Tails—one of Kirigakure's two tailed beasts.
Heh.
So I'm about to personally stitch together the moment that drives Uchiha Obito into a full-blown collapse into darkness.
If he had a choice, Ren wouldn't touch a "major historical event of wildly Schrödinger-level danger" with a ten-foot pole. Staring down the irrational explosion that was a Mangekyō Sharingan was the kind of risk you couldn't truly control.
But if he wanted enough power to change everything before Kirigakure truly became the Blood Mist…
He had already revealed a portion of his talents—just enough to gain access to higher-level secret techniques and a higher standing within the village.
Now he'd secured the position of a直属 ANBU under the Third Mizukage himself. Faced with a mission personally issued by the Mizukage, he had no way to refuse—unless he defected.
And in an era soaked in war, defecting from one of the Five Great Villages was hardly a smart choice, either.
So even if it left a bitter taste, Ren had to prepare. In two days, he would infiltrate the Land of Fire with his subordinates and execute the plan that would ultimately lead to Obito's fall.
Still…
Ren wasn't completely without cards to play.
"10, 9, 8… 2, 1, 0."
A countdown only he could hear ended. Under Kirigakure's perpetual fog, the cold moonlight twisted as though warped by an unseen force, slowly coalescing before him into lines of text:
[Survival Mission 3/3: Survive as a shinobi in Kirigakure for fifteen years—Complete. Reward: One opportunity to draw a Keystone Rune.]
[Growth Mission System Activated. After the host claims the Survival Mission reward, all functions of this system will officially open.]
[Please choose one of the following three Keystone Runes configured through adaptive completion.]
[Dark Harvest: Gain Yin-attribute chakra, and increase your genjutsu resistance based on the number of souls harvested. When you deal damage to an enemy below 50% vitality, you harvest their soul, dealing an additional strike directly to the soul and inflicting intense soul agony.
Soul Harvest has a 1-hour cooldown. Killing a chakra-bearing unit immediately resets this cooldown. Each successful harvest increases the additional damage and the intensity of soul agony.]
[Time Warp: When you kill an enemy of chūnin rank or higher, increase your maximum vitality by 5%, up to 30 stacks.
After reaching maximum stacks, all skills that consume vitality cost 30% less. In addition, whenever you kill a chakra-bearing enemy, restore 3% of your maximum vitality and chakra.]
[Electrocute: Gain Lightning-attribute chakra. If you already possess Lightning-attribute chakra, gain a Lightning nature transformation. If you already have one Lightning nature transformation, gain a new one.
When you hit the same enemy with three distinct skills/attacks within three seconds, you trigger an unavoidable Lightning Release ninjutsu on the target, dealing heavy damage. This damage effect has a one-minute cooldown per chakra-bearing target.]
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
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